CURRENT MISSION

Enjoying life's simple pleasures.

ABOUT ME

I write. I cook. I read. I bake. I draw. I sing. I dance. I snap pictures. I laugh (a lot). I do stupid things.

I love traveling alone to foreign lands and playing tourist in my hometown. I travel with notebooks and pens. The further or the longer I go, the more notebooks and pens I will carry with me.

In the cities I visit, usually I will just stroll around listlessly, no destination in mind, while taking pictures of everything until I find places I like. These are the places where I will sit for hours: writing, drawing, painting, reading, daydreaming, talking to strangers, or watching the passers-by.

I do not mind skipping landmarks and tourist attractions, but I will be heartbroken shall I miss bookstores, coffee shops, or flea markets. During my journeys, I love taking pictures of food, plants, animals, doors, windows, and hanging laundries.

When I travel, I have no fixed plans.

PHILOSOPHY

From my previous traveling journeys, I realized that the places I cherish the most are places with names and faces; places where stories and dreams are being shared with someone you have just met for the very first time; places where you arrive as a stranger and depart as a dear friend. To me, traveling is diplomacy at work in a grass root level. An effort to bridge distances, to tear down stereotypes, to understand that we are all human beings, to believe again and again that the world is indeed a beautiful place and that there are kindhearted people everywhere you go.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I went to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and I spent wonderful times with some locals there--who happened to be Couchsurfers :)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Love my first couch-surfing experience in Kyiv, Ukraine. My host took me to his girlfriend's "typical Soviet" apartment and we were just sitting there in her kitchen, sipping cognac and munching melons, talking and sharing stories, while listening to a government radio channel and having a great laugh. The kind of experience I'd like to have!

Interests

Good books. Great recipes. Wonderful strangers. Taking pictures. Traveling without rushing.

• animals
• arts
• culture
• writing
• books
• literature
• singing
• folklore
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• coffee
• desserts
• meditation
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• drawing
• surfing
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: anything Sundance.
Books: Asian literature (especially South Asian and East Asian), coming-of-age novels with misfit characters
Music: I live in the 70-90s.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Traveling alone and turning strangers into friends along the way :) I am still in touch with them; sending packages and letters every once and a while, keep updating each other about the latest events in our lives. It's the most amazing thing ever.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'd be happy to share about writing therapy, meditation, mindful living, Indonesian language, raw desserts(!), culinary, literature, culture, custom and tradition. I'd like to learn about culture, arts, culinary, and languages from different countries and I'd like to learn about you and your life, too! Most of the times, it gives me valuable life lessons :)

PS: Oh, and if you want to have a photo-shoot day with me, I can act as your photographer, make-up artist, and stylist, too (well, I am not a pro, but we can have fun!). I can send the pictures back to you as a souvenir from the time we've spent together! Some of my photoworks can be seen here: http://beradadisini.com/category/others/photoworks/

Countries I’ve Visited

China, France, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Macao, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Indonesia

•